A. Technical Field
The present invention relates to pre-filled contained media volumes and methods of media filling using pre-filled contained media volumes. In particular, the present invention relates to apparatus and methods of media filling a tooling using pre-filled contained media volumes.
B. Related Art
Presently, composite materials (such as fiber-reinforced plastics) are increasingly being used to manufacture aircraft. The manufacture of such aircraft includes the manufacture of the fuselage (the central body of the aircraft), the internal frames of the fuselage, and the various other components of the aircraft. Often the manufacture of an aircraft fuselage with composite materials includes the use of a tooling to form the shape of the fuselage. For example, in some manufacturing processes, laminate fibers are wrapped around a tooling, such as a mandrel, to form the fuselage.
In certain applications, this tooling is constructed of elastomeric materials. The use of elastomeric materials provides for increased flexibility in the formation of the shape of the tooling. However, hollow elastomeric tooling does not provide the rigidity often needed during the lay-up and curing process. Therefore, the elastomeric tooling can be filled with a granular media, such as ceramic spheres available under the product name Macrolite, metal balls or shot, metal filings, such as aluminum filings, thermoplastics or any other appropriate granular material, and held under vacuum to provide the necessary rigidity. After curing of the fuselage, the granular media is removed from the tooling, and the tooling is removed from the fuselage.
In the course of filling the tooling with granular media, however, the granular media often does not flow to all interior volumes of the tooling. This may result in void pockets of air where granular media has not filled within the tooling. When the tooling is subsequently held under vacuum, the air in the void pockets of granular media dissipates causing the tooling in the area of the void pocket of granular media to be misshapen. This may lead to an improperly formed fuselage. Thus, there is a need for apparatus and methods for preventing air pockets from forming during media filling.